The second woman I portray is Mamello ( meaning patience) . She grew up in the Free State. She was raped by her uncle at the age of fifteen. She left an abuse marriage after 27 years when she was 46 years old and fled to a home for abused women in Johannesburg where we met. She has four children. Her body bears permanent scars. Today she makes and sells vetkoek to schoolchildren and workers who pass her makeshift stall every day.
Mamello dreams of her own little house with electricity.
In this work I allude to the performance art of Nelisiwe Xaba (Black!White? - 2009). She states: "In my art my body is my instrument" (Sichel 2009,29).
Mamello's instrument is damaged, but she can dream again. The traditional skirt refers to a Sesotho female initiation garment.
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